The present invention is broadly concerned with improvements in equipment for quickly drying previously flooded areas of a building and, more particularly, to hanger structures for supporting temporary ducting for such activity.
When an area of a building such as a commercial building is flooded, as by spillage, a ruptured water pipe, a roof leak, the application of water for fire suppression, or the like, it is necessary to quickly drain and dry such an area to avoid further damage from standing water, corrosion, fungal growth, and the like.
A common technique for drying such an area is to direct a drying airflow toward the wet area by means of temporary ducting suspended from ceiling supports and extending from a fan/heater unit to the area to be dried. The fan unit may be placed outdoors. The ducting may have branches to direct the drying airflow to multiple areas. Typically, the ducting is supported by lengths of wire or rope or other structures connected to existing ceiling trusses or beams. The wire or rope sections are secured to the ducting by common duct tape. The type of ducting structure used is known as “layflat” tubing material.
Layflat tubing, also known as lay flat tubing or LFT, is a continuous length of a seamless, tubular, flexible, polymer film which is manufactured by the packaging industry and which is usually provided in a continuous flat form on rolls. Because of its flexibility, it is referred to as layflat tubing. One of the most common uses of layflat tubing is in heat sealed packaging, as for foods and other products. The use of duct tape to install the temporary ducting is time consuming and laborious, such that the application of a drying airflow to the wet area is delayed.
Such layflat tubing can also be used to exhaust dust and particulates from an area of a building undergoing remodeling construction, spray painting, cleanup after construction, and the like. In addition to exhausting such airborne materials, temporary barriers can be erected to block movement of potentially debris-carrying airflows from one area to another. Such barriers can be formed by elongated polymer sheets extending from a ceiling or ceiling structure to a floor therebelow. As with layflat ducting, the use of duct tape to install such temporary barrier sheets may be time consuming and laborious.